Kim
At first, I'm shocked. Then I take a moment and realise, who am I kidding? This has been on the cards ever since we met up again, for whichever reason fate has chosen to throw at us this time. And once I've gotten over the initial shock of Tommy kissing me, I decide that it's actually quite nice.
Scratch that. It's fantastic. So, I do what any self-respecting woman would do when faced with such an unexpected yet romantic kiss in a cramped elevator, and kiss him back. Sparks are travelling up and down my spine in a not entirely uncomfortable manner, and as he draws me closer, my arms entwine around his neck so I can pull myself up higher to reach him.
For the first time in my life, I find myself wishing I lived on a higher building in my apartment block, to make the elevator ride longer. Luckily the door doesn't open on us at another floor apart from my own (I'd love to try explaining this to the neighbours), and I break away from him and step out of the elevator, while trying to sort my hair out at the same time. Trini was right when she said I'd be able to flick it coquettishly, but she failed to mention potential stylistic disasters should anyone else come near the hair. I have no doubt I look as though I've been electrocuted, but I'm interrupted from fishing for my keys with one hand and frantically flattening down my hair with the other by said destroyer of hairstyles taking my purse from me and burrowing through it to find the keys. All I can do is stand and stare in a possibly unflattering fashion.
Tommy finds the keys in the deepest darkest corner of my purse, and dangles them in front of me so I can indicate the right one to open my front door. Wordlessly, I point to the only silver one on the ring, and then use the same finger to incredulously touch my lips to make sure that the kiss actually happened. He turns to open my door, succeeds, and then holds it open for me so I can enter. I do so, he follows me inside, shuts the door and turns back towards me, looking very much as though he wants to carry on the kiss which was so rudely interrupted by the elevator. And believe me, there's nothing more that I'd like to do.
Somehow, we end up in what passes for my den, but in reality is a small space with a sofa, TV, computer and bookshelf. We sit on the couch, perhaps a bit too close if I was supposed to be following a dating guide and playing it cool, but in all honesty, do I really need to? He knows that my most embarrassing moment was having to sleep outside my dorm room in college when I was drunk and couldn't find my keys, only to be woken by the cleaners at 7:30 the next morning. I really don't think there's anything else I can tell him that would put him off.
He reaches for me once more, but this time I initiate the kiss, and we end up in the inelegant position of me halfway across his lap and him almost falling off the sofa. I can't exactly hear him complaining though, as this kiss is infinitely better than the first. Somehow he manages to pull himself back onto the sofa without breaking lip contact, which is highly impressive, and opens his eyes slightly to reach round me and pull off my jacket.
I don't know how long we stay like this for, but I know that however long it is will never be enough. It feels kind of stupid that we've been friends for ten years now and gone without this when it feels so right. How could we ever have thought that we could just be friends?
Somehow our shoes end up thrown to the other end of the room in the throes of passion, which would have been well and good had they not hit the wall with an incredibly loud connection noise. It would have been fine if they'd been thrown on the wall which the sofa rests on, as the guy living there is slightly younger than I am and doesn't care about noise. However, the woman living on the other side is Mrs. Jacobs, who is in her sixties but is still sharp of hearing, and tuts at people if they cause the elevator to stop on the fifth floor after eight at night. She never leaves the building as far as I can tell, and I have a sinking feeling in my chest that the noise is not going to go unnoticed.
We manage another minute or so of full-on kissing which have the accumulated effect of turning my knees to jelly, before the inevitable hammering on my door begins. And doesn't stop.
"Who the hell is that?" Tommy murmurs, pulling away from me slightly but still holding me so close to him that I can smell his aftershave. He's changed it over the years, and I don't recognise the scent, but I could get used to it pretty quickly.
"My nosy neighbour who hates noise," I say quietly, and readjust my position so I'm sitting closely to him on the sofa. "If we keep quiet she might think it was rats and leave us alone."
The luck I've had so far today has obviously run out, as after a brief pause, she starts up again, and about ten times louder than before. "Miss Hart? Are you okay in there? Would you like me to call the police?"
"The police?" Tommy mouths at me incredulously. "It was only a shoe…" Mrs Jacobs begins hammering on the door with her fist, and I can hear her shouting as well, although individual words are drowned out by the attempt to knock down my door.
"She probably would call them as well," I moan ruefully. "I should go and reassure her."
"She might go away if we just leave her," Tommy says hopefully, and picks up my hand to caress my fingers. Unfortunately, although it feels incredible, my attention is elsewhere, and I move to pull away. "Where do you think you're going?"
"The sooner I can placate her and get rid of her, the sooner we can have peace and quiet," I reason, and get up from the sofa to answer the door. I manage to catch Mrs Jacobs mid-knock, and she almost falls into the apartment. Luckily, she balances herself in time, and looks indignant.
"Miss Hart, is there any reason there are loud noises travelling from your apartment into mine?"
So much for the concerned neighbour act. "Sorry, Mrs Jacobs. I dropped a shoe, and it made a little too much noise. It won't happen again." Unfortunately, I don't think she's heard a word of my explanation, as she's too busy craning her neck and trying to get a better look over my shoulder at Tommy, who I thought had remained on the sofa, but is now making his way towards the front door.
"And who is this?" Mrs Jacobs asks critically, looking him up and down with a pointed glance. "I didn't realise you were co-habiting, Miss Hart."
"I'm an old friend from high school," Tommy says smoothly, and stands beside me so as to offer his hand for Mrs Jacobs to shake. "I'm in town for a doctorate conference, and came by to see Kim as we hadn't caught up in a long while." He flashes Mrs Jacobs a winning smile, and you can almost see her objections curl up and die as she reaches forward to take his hand.
"Pleased to meet you. I'm Patty Jacobs, I live next door. And you are…" she enquires (not entirely delicately) while still holding onto Tommy's hand.
"Tommy Oliver," he says, while trying to extricate himself from Mrs Jacobs' grip. I intervene hastily, and say quickly,
"Is there anything else we can help you with, Mrs Jacobs?"
With my query she seems to shake herself back into normal action, and finally drops Tommy's hand. "As long as you keep the noise down, we won't have a problem, Miss Hart. Good day to you both." She shoots another lingering glance at Tommy, then flounces off back into her apartment. I shut the door, and then smirk at Tommy.
"I see you can still wrap the ladies around your little finger. If I'd been alone, I'd never have heard the end of it. I swear she was about to ask why one shoe could sound like four shoes hitting the wall." He shrugs, and flops back onto the couch.
"I guess I just have a natural charm." I don't go and sit back next to him, instead I remain standing and look at the back of his head.
What do I do now? More to the point, what would we have done if we hadn't been interrupted? Yes, it was good. Very good. Incredible… but is it right? We broke up for a reason, and a valid one at that. I didn't invent another guy when I initially broke up with him, and neither of us have been pining for the other since the aftermath ended. Is this what Trini warned me of – two friends falling back into a familiar pattern – or is it more? It feels like more. To tell the truth, it feels like all I've ever wanted. But am I blinded by stupidity, or am I finally seeing what's been in front of me for far too long?
Tommy
Kim is developing an unattractive habit of spacing out at important times.
She looks gorgeous when she does it, mind. She hasn't lost the habit of biting her lower lip with her teeth, and once again her expression is distant. There's a tiny smile on her face, so I don't think her thoughts are bad ones, but I get the feeling she's trying to work through what just happened in her head. I can't blame her for it, as I'm struggling to comprehend it myself.
I'm having no trouble in believing that this is right. I know that kisses that good don't come along every day, and I don't know anyone who understands me as well as Kim does. That's not to take away from Kat or Megan however, I did my best not to compare them to Kim when seeing either of them, and for the most part I succeeded. Seeing her over the past few days has opened old feelings though, and I remember why we worked so well in the first place.
The part that's confusing me, however, is why this happened now. I can't figure it out, no matter how many times I go over it in my head. We have seen each other countless times since Kim initially came back to the West coast. We guided each other through tough times, and saw the good times together, but always only as friends. I never thought of her as anything more, but over the past week it's as though that period of our lives never existed, and I've always seen her in a romantic light rather than seeing her as a friend, and a friend only, for the past ten years.
Then again, if this is what fate's handing us, who am I to argue?
Kim mumbles something under her breath, and I don't think she realises she's doing it. Her cheeks are still slightly flushed as a result of our encounter on the couch, her hair is messed up at the back, but she still looks beautiful. However, she still looks confused, and I decide to interrupt her reverie. "Still up for the walk?" I suggest. Even though there's nothing I'd like more than to continue what we started, Kim looks slightly shell-shocked (I must be hiding my glee more effectively) and I know better than to push her into something she's not sure of. She looks up and meets my gaze, and then smiles. "Sure. Just let me get a pair of shoes that haven't caused offence to my neighbours and we can go."
Kim darts into what I presume to be her bedroom to retrieve a pair of shoes she's able to walk in, and I walk over to the other side of the den to put my own shoes back on. She comes back into the room surprisingly quickly for such a fashionista (I was expecting to wait for twenty minutes while she chose the right colour sneakers), and I take her hand. It can be interpreted as anything she wants – romantic or friendly handholding, even though I'm just looking for an excuse to touch her. "Are we actually going to get to the park this time?" I joke, and am rewarded by a surprisingly painful punch to the arm. "Ow! What was that for?"
"If you hadn't waylaid me by molesting me on my very own couch, we could have been at the park half an hour ago," she reminds me. The words may be threatening, but the tone and her wide grin serve to tell me that she was very happy with the turn of events, and she squeezes my hand lightly before pulling me out of the apartment. "So stop complaining and let's go!"
We stroll along the streets of Surfside once more (after the now-essential clinch in the elevator, this time on the way back to ground level), except this time both of us are paying more attention to our surroundings. "That's where I work," Kim says eventually as we pass a tall building on our left.
"Any progress on that front?" I ask, watching her closely. She shrugs.
"If it doesn't get better in the next month, I'm leaving. I'm not paid to be their runner, and even if I try to assert my authority they'll only resent me for it. If I can't get another job here I may as well try my hand in L.A. There's not exactly much keeping me here." What can I say to that? She looks up at me, and laughs at my expression. "There's no need to look so tragic, it's not as though I'm attached to the job. Not all of us are as lucky as you to have found a vocation, some of us have to work away and eventually find something we're good at. It's not heartbreaking, and it's not catastrophic. It's just the way it is."
"I would hardly call being hassled by my boss a vocation," I protest, and remind myself to keep up the lie about Randall keeping me late at school. Still, it's a perfectly plausible explanation. "But you're right, I do love teaching. I was surprised at first, but it's the right job for me."
"And advertising is the right job for me," Kim replies as we cross the road and make our way towards the park gates in the distance. "I just haven't found the right place yet. Trial and error, and all that."
The park is in the middle of the city, and is nowhere near the size of Angel Grove Park, but is still a pretty space with flower beds, expanses of grass, and winding paths which traverse the width and length of the area. I choose to stake out an area along the perimeter which has a nice view of the rest of the park, and pull Kim down after me. She squeals, but doesn't resist.
"And what happened to this walk you were so desperate to take?" she mocks. I look at her with my best beguiling stare, and say,
"I changed my mind. Of course, if you have a problem with that…"
She shuts me up by kissing me, which considering the amount of crap I've babbled in front of her today, is probably the wisest thing to do. I thoroughly enjoy our time as one of the couples in parks that everyone else loves to hate, so sickening have we become. All we need is to begin strolling hand-in-hand around the park, eating each other's ice creams and with our hands in each other's back pockets, and we would be truly hated. Then again, I have no inclination to move from the patch of grass we have claimed as our own, and the time goes by far too quickly. Occasionally we kiss, but mostly we just sit. Neither of us has been in the mood for talking much today, and although there are most definitely things that need to be said, now doesn't seem to be the time. It needs to be determined where we stand, relationship-wise, and before too much time goes past I really need to tell her about my role as mentor to the Dino Rangers. But the day is too perfect – the sun is out, and although there's a slight breeze, the temperature is warm, and I have Kim back in my arms, where I'm convinced she belongs. Surely my news can wait for another day.
We stay in the park for a couple of hours I guess, until eventually the sun begins to set and the temperature starts to drop. I look at my watch, and am shocked to find that we've been there for about four hours as opposed to the two I had reckoned upon, and it's almost ten in the evening. "Oh god…"I moan, and lean back further into the tree I am currently propped against, with Kim resting against my chest. "I'm going to have to go back to Reefside."
"Why, what time is…" Kim lazily raises her arm to look at her wrist, and her eyes widen. "Is it really ten? I thought we'd only been here for a couple of hours."
"So did I, but time flies when you're having fun," I say wryly, and make moves to get up.
"You could always stay here…" Kim suggests, with a hint of seduction in her eyes. It kills me to have to turn this down, especially when we were interrupted before anything serious could happen earlier, but it's an impossibility.
"I have to get up at 6 as it is to get to school on time. If I stayed at your place I'd have to leave at half 4, and although there's nothing I'd like more than to stay with you and maybe continue what we started earlier, I draw the line at such an early wake-up call."
"Damn, I really don't agree with the new, sensible, you," Kim says as I pull her up from the ground and we begin the walk back to her place. "Back in the day, we'd have thought nothing of it."
"If you want to get up before dawn to see me out of the premises, then feel free," I retort, and she scrunches her features up into a scowl. "Maybe next time we'll have to meet on the weekend." A part of me is reminding me that no self-respecting male should ask his date out on the next date while the first is still ongoing, but then again, this is no normal 'date'. Once you've tried to kill someone before their sixteenth birthday, the normal bounds of social etiquette don't really apply. "What are you doing on Friday night?"
"Nothing I can't cancel," Kim says nonchalantly, swinging our joined hands back and forth. I have a feeling we're on a level playing field here – nice as it would be to pretend we'd only just met, and go through the more pleasurable parts of getting to know someone for the first time, there's not much possibility of it happening between the two of us. We know each other far too well; there's no point in beating round the bush. There's no need to rush headlong into things, but equally no need to tiptoe around each other. "What did you have in mind?"
I can't really say 'a continuation of what was going extremely well on your couch earlier'. "Dinner, then take it from there?" I suggest. Do I propose Reefside as a venue this time? It would make sense, seeing as we've only met in Surfside, however inadvertently. And dinner at my place would be the perfect opportunity to tell her about the whole ranger escapade, and then show her the basement. "I'll cook," I add. She makes a face, although she tries to hide it, and I protest. "Hey, you haven't eaten anything I've cooked for ten years. You have no right to judge me on the steak incident."
"You gave your own mother food poisoning!" she reminds me, and I wince. It wasn't exactly my finest moment.
"I've improved. And if you don't like it, we can order takeout. Sound good?"
"I'll believe these new culinary skills when I see them," she threatens, but the smile that hasn't left her face all evening is still there, so I'm not too worried. I'm glad our playful banter that we enjoyed as friends has remained intact, it's always been fun trying to get a rise out of Kim, and she'd say the same about me. "What time shall I aim to get to Reefside at? And you'd better give me directions if you expect me to turn up on time!"
I look up, and find that we're outside Kim's apartment building, and that this is where we will have to part ways. "I'll call you tomorrow and give you directions," I promise, and lean down to kiss her goodbye. It's one of those kisses that you really don't want to have to end, so I don't end it for quite some time. I'm enjoying familiarising myself with Kim once more – she smells different than when we were teenagers, and her hair is longer, but the important things are still the same – she's the perfect height to fit into my shoulder, she's still as sympathetic as ever (having to put up with a diatribe on Randall when we were relaxing in the park would have destroyed lesser people), and more importantly, we still fit together as friends.
Eventually I have to end it or we'll get arrested for public indecency, but I don't break the hold I have over her. "I'll see you Friday night, 7:30. And I promise not to give you food poisoning."
"You'd better not," Kim flushes, and pushes her hair out of her eyes for the thousandth time this evening. "Call me to give me directions."
"I will," I assure her, and she walks into her building, allowing herself a backwards glance at me, and a slight grin before she enters the elevator.
I sigh as I watch her leave, and start the walk back to my car. It wasn't the way I'd seen the night going, but it was definitely something I'd hoped for. I'm wary about the fact that I've left telling her about my newly renewed Ranger job for so long – Kim always expects honesty from her friends, and she isn't going to be too impressed when she finds out that she's been in the dark for so long, however inadvertently. I resolve that come hell or high water, I will tell her on Friday night, and it eases my guilt somewhat.
After all, we shouldn't have secrets.
Kim
It takes all my self-control to refrain from squealing like a pre-teen until I get into my apartment. Even then, I have to be careful not to squeak too loud or Mrs Jacobs will be on my case for the second time that day, and this time I don't have Tommy here to appease her.
I eventually break out of my deliriously happy state to realise that I am hungry. I never even thought of eating while we were at the park, and I only had a sandwich for lunch. As I make my way into the kitchen to get myself something to eat, I notice that the light on my answer machine is blinking at me insistently. I press the play button, and listen to the messages as I open and shut cupboard doors, trying to find something that isn't past its sell-by date.
"Kim, it's your mother. It's morning here, so give me a call back when you get this message. Christophe and I are thinking of coming to see you for a couple of weeks this summer, what do you think about that? We'll probably go to see your brother as well, but do you have room for visitors? Call me back, sweetie. Love you."
My apartment barely has room for me, let alone visitors. Still, I guess I could sleep on the sofa. I shrug my shoulders at the thought and move my search for food onto the fridge. The next message is from Aisha, who sounds despondent.
"Hey Kim, it's me. I just wanted to check in, and to ask if you're sure it's okay that I come up next weekend. Things aren't really going any better here, and I really need to escape for a while. I'm going to bed now, so call me back tomorrow and let me know. Speak to you soon."
My heart goes out to Aisha, and I make a mental note to call her as soon as I get into work tomorrow and let her know there'll always be a place for her here. It seems as though my advice hasn't worked, but I remain adamant that they'll work through it, or else my faith in romance will be utterly shot, despite the events of this evening. My third and final message is from an indignant Trini, and I can't help laughing out loud as I hear her.
"Kim? Kim, where are you? You're not answering your cell either, so I have no doubt that you are engaged in some kind of sordid affair with our very own fearless leader. No matter what time you get this message, I want you to call me back immediately. There will be no excuses about not wanting to wake your niece up, I need to know immediately." There is then a slight pause and murmurs in the background, and then Trini says in a more normal voice, "and Jason says hi. Call me."
My watch says it's only half past ten, so once the tape has rewound, I reach for the cordless phone and take it into the den, along with an apple which is slightly past its best. I dial Trini's number, and wait for her to pick up, which she does after three rings. "Hello?"
I get straight to the point. "I object to the term 'sordid affair'. It makes me sound like I'm in some cheap soap opera."
"Kim? Where the hell have you been? I was starting to get worried for real when you didn't answer your cell." I take my phone out of my pocket and sure enough, the display tells me I have eight missed calls.
"Sorry, I must not have heard the cell ring. I was in the park," I hint, knowing I have just lit the gossip touchpaper.
"Oh. So you expect me to believe you were in the park, alone, until half past ten at night. I don't think so, Kim. How did it go?"
"It was great," I admit, and take a bite out of my apple, which prevents me from talking for a moment. Trini takes offence at this, and starts ranting again.
"Great. Just, 'great'? What does that tell me? Nothing."
"It should tell you something, you're the psychiatrist," I hint helpfully, and grin at the annoyance I must be causing Trini. I'm right.
"Kim, I've been at work all day, dealing with a teething Sally all evening, and I've been on tenterhooks ever since you called me earlier. Now answer me this, did you at least kiss the man?" I forgot how demanding Trini can be when she wants gossip. At least Aisha and I are playful when extracting gossip from each other, but Trini is ruthless. I'm tired from being in the fresh air for four hours, but can't resist carrying on the game for a little longer.
"Yes, of course I did. A polite kiss on the cheek when we parted…" I hint, leaving just enough ambiguity in my voice for Trini to catch on that this is not the full story.
"And?"
"Oh, there was a bit of kissing on the couch, but my neighbour came by when we threw our shoes at the wall, and it got interrupted. And I'm pretty sure we broke a couple of public indecency laws when we were in the park earlier, but you don't really want to hear about that, do you?" I tease.
"Are you sure this is what you want?" Trini asks lightly, but I can sense there's something else she wants to ask me and is refraining to do so, for whatever reason.
"We haven't exactly talked it over yet, but I'm pretty sure we're headed in the right direction. Why are you doubting this?" I ask, curious as to why she's not sharing my happiness. Maybe I should have called Aisha, this would have pulled her out of the doldrums even if I would have had to wake her up to do it.
"I don't want you to get hurt, Kim. I don't want either of you to get hurt, come to that. Are you seeing each other again?"
I finish the apple and throw the core into the bin. "He's cooking me dinner on Friday night, but has promised provision of take-out if things go badly wrong." Trini laughs, and I hope that this is a sign of support. "Are you going to be on my side in this, Trini?"
"Of course I am! I'm sorry Kim, but you have to admit that this has come as something out of the blue. I guess I just needed to reassure myself that you know what you're getting yourself into."
"I do," I reassure her, and yawn. "How has your day been? Apart from dealing with a teething baby, which is fine on its own with no re-enactments through the medium of sound, in case you were wondering."
"It's been a pretty boring day, not as eventful as yours from the sounds of it. I rearranged some clients this evening so we can have a girl's night when Aisha comes into town. Have either of you rung Kat and Tanya?"
"Not that I know of. I need to call Sha tomorrow, so I'll ask her then and if she hasn't done it I'll call them from work. It'll be good to have the five of us together again if we can all make it."
"Hopefully with gossip to impart," Trini hints, and I relax slightly. Judgemental Trini seems to have been replaced by Happy Trini, which is always a good sign. "I'll call you over the weekend. From the sounds of it, you'll be in Reefside on Saturday morning, I presume?"
"TRINI!" I yell down the phone, and blush furiously. I can't deny that that was where we were headed before Mrs Jacobs interrupted us, but my best friend is not supposed to think those kinds of things about me. "I resent… I wouldn't… Oh, I give up. I'll call you when I'm back. Which will be on Friday night!" I reinforce, and scowl.
"Ever heard of protesting too much?" Trini remarks mildly, before following it up with "Don't answer that. Just call me whenever. Night."
"Night," I mumble, and replace the receiver, on its base on the coffee table, unwilling now to call my mother and discuss logistics of her impending stay. All I want to do is sleep, and hopefully have sweet dreams. I switch the light off in the den and make my way to my bedroom, thinking about what Trini said, but even her warnings can't prevent the tiniest of grins from taking permanent residence on my mouth.
Tommy
The next day, I do everything with a spring in my step. Everything seems rosy – indifferent students can be invigorated with encouragement, aliens can be appeased by gentle words, and nosy teammates can be quietened by ignoring the matter.
I can't vouch for the first two, but the latter most definitely isn't true. I happen to walk into my basement this fine Thursday afternoon whistling tunelessly and presumably with a faraway expression on my face. I don't know how my students have got here before me, but from the incredulous expressions on their faces, Kira, Ethan, Conner and Trent were expecting to find me annoyed from having spent a sizeable period of the day teaching, as opposed to me being happy and suggesting we take a day off from training seeing as there had been an attack the previous day, and Hayley hadn't made it to my place yet.
"Are you feeling okay, Dr. O?" Conner asks bemusedly, scratching his head and looking at his friends for support. "You've never cancelled a training session before, and you've never come home from a day's teaching looking this happy. Did Randall keel over and die, or something?"
"Don't be rude about your principal," I say automatically, while sitting on my chair and absent-mindedly thinking of what to cook for Kim tomorrow night. And wondering how on earth I am going to successfully explain away not telling her of my second job for a week.
"Don't be rude about Randall? You practically encourage it!" Conner protests, but is quietened by punches in the ribs from Kira and Ethan on either side of him.
"I think what Conner is trying unsuccessfully to say, is that you seem too happy for someone who's just spent an entire day teaching, Dr. O," Trent paraphrases with an amused grin on his face. "Is there any particular reason?"
I pick up a pencil from the desk and twiddle it between my fingers. "It's a lovely day, and you should all be out enjoying your teenage years, not cooped up in here when you've been working so hard all day. Now, take advantage of this good mood while it lasts, and go do something fun before I change my mind and get you all back here."
"Are you sure?" Kira asks, but isn't given the chance to say anything else, as Conner excitedly proposes, "Ice-cream! Let's all go get ice-cream!"
"If you want us, you know what to do," Ethan assures me before being dragged out by his hyperactive friend, and the four of them exit the basement amidst yells, screams and laughter. I shake my head, but the smile refuses to leave my face, and I decide to leave Hayley a message telling her she doesn't need to bother stopping by today. Once done, I don't replace the phone, instead deciding to ring Jason and find out what he thinks of the latest developments.
This isn't gossiping. Gossiping isn't my style – this is keeping my best friend up to date with recent events. I wouldn't tell anyone at Reefside anything about this – Hayley never really took to Kim the first and only time they met; although they were civil to each other I got the feeling they wouldn't be making much of an effort in the future. I don't know any of my colleagues well enough to tell them about a woman they've never met, and I would boil myself in red-hot soup before breathing a word about anything to do with my love life to Ethan, Trent, Conner or Kira. The only viable candidate for passing on news is Jason, and so I dial his cell number and hope that he's winding down at work for the day and is able to talk. It seems I've struck lucky, as he picks up on the second ring.
"Hello?"
"Hey bro, are you free to talk?" I ask, noticing that his voice is slightly quieter than normal.
"Yeah, sure. I just got back from taking Sally to the doctor's and she's just going to sleep. Wait a minute while I go into the kitchen and then I can talk without waking her up." I can hear a door opening then closing softly. "Okay, I'm with you. What's up?"
"Is anything wrong with my favourite god-daughter?" I ask concernedly. I may not be great with tiny kids, but I was honoured when Jase and Trini asked me to be godfather to their daughter. Sally's cute as babies go, but I prefer not to be around when it's time to change diapers.
"No, nothing at all, just a routine weight check at the paediatrician's. Trini had to see a patient so I volunteered. Anyway, to what do I owe the honour of a second call in a week?"
I cough slightly, and wonder how to phrase it. "Kim and I might be back together, but I'm not entirely sure."
"You what?" Jason splutters, and I can't help but wish I could see his expression – probably two parts shock to one part amusement. "Of course, you were meeting her yesterday, weren't you? I take it this reunion happened then?"
"Yeah, but I still haven't told her about the whole Rangering thing yet," I admit sheepishly.
"You remember the temper that Kim had on her when we were teenagers? It hasn't dimmed with age," Jason informs me, and I wince. "If you don't tell her pronto, she will kick your ass all the way back to Angel Grove."
"I meant to tell her, but we kind of got distracted," I tell him. "Then things were left up in the air, and I really don't know where we stand."
"Even if nothing comes of whatever it is that you guys got up to – and believe me, I really don't want to know what it was – you need to tell her, Tom," Jase says seriously, and I know that he's right. I don't even know what's stopping me anymore, apart from feeling guilty that I've left it this long, and the guilt will only get worse as the time lengthens. "No matter what, she's one of your best friends, and it's only through accidents that she wasn't told as soon as you told me."
"She's coming round for dinner tomorrow, so I will tell her then," I say vehemently, as much to reassure me than to placate my best friend. "I'm just going to have to perfect my cooking skills so she would feel bad about yelling at someone who can cook such perfect steak."
"Didn't you give your own mother food poisoning by cooking your parents steak?" Jason jokes, and I feel glad the conversation's moved on to something more light-hearted, even if it still remains in the general area of highlighting my shortcomings.
"That was ten years ago, and I've cooked steak since then," I retort. "I don't even know what I'm cooking yet, I need to go to the grocery store after work tomorrow, and pray that nothing happens to distract me between school ending and her coming over."
"Have you had any trouble recently?" Jason asks. I'm so lucky to have friends that I can call upon for advice in all aspects of my life, and mentally kick myself for not including Kim in this circle straight away, however inadvertently.
"A little yesterday, but nothing major. Didn't make me late to meet Kim, so I wasn't that fussed. I think Mesogog's still recovering from the last major attack a couple weeks back, as far as I can work out it should be another couple of weeks before we're badly hit again."
"If you need any help, you know where I am, and it goes for Trini too. As long as you don't mind a nine-month old infant screaming the house down," Jason jokes, and I smile at the casual way we can still offer each other all the help we can give, even when other people would have balked due to the pressure of other commitments.
"It's always appreciated," I tell him sincerely.
"You know I'll make you pay it back in babysitting duties when Sally's old enough for Trini not to be paranoid about leaving her with you," Jason jibes, and I can't hit back because I know I'd be appalling at caring for my god-daughter. "Anyway, I'd better sort out dinner for the two of us seeing as I left work early. I think it's safe to say I won't be cooking steak."
"I'm not going to dignify that with a response," I reply. "I'll speak to you soon, bro."
"I'll give you a call over the weekend. I think Trini mentioned a girl's night was being planned at Kim's next weekend, so I'll be left to look after my gorgeous daughter for a couple of nights. If you could get away, we could have a responsible guy's night."
"I'll do my best. Talk to you later." I hang up the phone, and decide to leave marking papers until after I've gone to the grocery store. If I do the shopping for tomorrow's dinner now, it gives me more time to correct any mistakes that I may make tomorrow. I have improved as a cook, but by no stretch of the imagination could my cooking be described as cordon bleu. I grab my car keys and stride out of the house, running imaginary menus through my head and discarding those which will be impossible.
I will tell her. Tomorrow, I will tell her.
KimIt's Friday morning, and I have nothing to wear.
The initial elation of Wednesday night has subsided into a dull panic that nothing was actually said about our status. Trini's caution has got me thinking, and I've been trying to convince myself that I'll take everything as it comes, and if he decides we should just remain friends, I can live with it.
That approach worked fine on Thursday, when I still had a day to get through before driving down to Reefside. However, in a little under ten hours, I'll be having dinner with a sort-of boyfriend, and once again I find myself in the midst of a wardrobe crisis. Do I dress up and risk total humiliation if I get the whole "love you like a sibling" thing that I inflicted on him in high school, or do I dress down and be embarrassed if it's a fancy dinner?
I do the only thing a self-respecting woman would do, and pack two outfits – a more formal dress and heels, and a top, skirt and sandals. Tommy's due to ring me during the day to give me directions to his place anyway, so I figure I'll dig for hints as to the style of the meal and change my work outfit in the restroom once I'm done at work.
I finally get to work in my normal outfit, but with the happy expression that has become a regular feature over the past day or so. Even though I'm panicking, I feel happier than I have in a long time. It feels as though events are leading up to yet another fresh start, but perhaps this time things would work out better than my life in Surfside has turned out so far. Although, things do seem to be looking up…
Today, I am polite to my co-workers. More than that, I am nice, and they are nice back in return. Maybe this was all we needed, for me as their boss to be in a better frame of mind, for me to be accepted into their fold. I wouldn't go so far as to say the five of us are becoming best friends, but I have a gossip with them before lunch, and things seem to be getting done more quickly than usual. Time flies when you're trying to avoid thinking about something and for the most part, succeeding, and it's not until I look at my watch and realise it's 4:45 that Tommy hasn't called to give me directions to his place.
I'm not overly worried about this – I know his memory, and that he's probably forgotten – but a tiny voice in the back of my head is warning me that he may have forgotten the date altogether. Maybe I should call him and ask? Is that too forward of me?
Don't be stupid, I tell myself. I need to remember that first of all, we're friends. And as a friend, I've been invited to dinner, but don't know the way. Why should I hesitate to call for directions?
I'm arguing with myself while going through some files to check they're all in order at the end of the week, when finally my cell phone rings. I grab it to answer it without looking at the display number; I know who it will be, but don't want to take the obvious route by making fun of his memory skills from the outset.
"Hello?"
From the outset, my heart sinks as I realise something's wrong. "Kim, I'm so sorry, but something's come up and I can't make our dinner tonight. I bought the food and everything, but I'm going to have to cancel. Can we reschedule?"
Interesting. Tommy wouldn't have suggested rescheduling if he didn't want to see me, I know that much. But what's come up that has necessitated him leaving town so suddenly? "What's wrong?"
He breathes out and makes the phone line crackle. "Can I explain it to you when I see you? I know you deserve an explanation, but I really need to see you to explain it properly, and I can't do it over the phone."
It's alleviated my fears of being dumped before we've properly begun slightly, but there's still something off. "When do you want to reschedule for?"
"I don't like the thought of all the food I bought going to waste, so does tomorrow suit you?" His slightly hurried tone has shifted into a more seductive voice, and I instantly stop the inward cursing I was projecting his way at cancelling tonight.
"I think I can fit you into my heavy social schedule," I say sarcastically, but then laugh to show there's few hard feelings towards him. "Are you going to be able to make it this time?"
"If there's any problems I'll call you as soon as I can. I'll call you anyway tomorrow, to give you directions. I'm really sorry Kim, but I'm going to have to go. Keep your cell on, and I'll let you know as soon as I can. I can't wait to see you."
My tone softens to mirror his as the conversation draws to a close. "I know I was really looking forward to seeing you, too. I guess now I'll have time to perfect my wardrobe choices."
I can picture him smirking at the other end of the phone, as he replies, "I wouldn't expect anything less, Kim! I'll see you tomorrow."
"Bye." I click the 'off' button and slip my phone back into my purse. Although
everything seems to be fine, and I have no reason not to believe Tommy when he says there's a valid excuse for him cancelling tonight, something is telling me there's more to it than an emergency teacher's union meeting or suchlike. Do I believe this voice, or not?
I turn back to my desk and carry on categorising a week's worth of files, which is the perfect task for allowing my mind to wander. I'm slowly convincing myself that there's more to this cancellation than meets the eye, although Tommy's words gave me nothing to worry about.
I guess I'll just have to wait this one out, and find out for myself what Tommy's hiding from me when I see him tomorrow.
If he doesn't come up with another excuse not to see me, that is…